Phishing in this case, means, well, you’re the fish.

There has been a recent uptick in the amount of malicious email spam finding its way into the inboxes of students, staff and faculty. These messages are sent with the sole purpose of stealing important information and by association, gaining access to the people in your contact lists, classes and workgroups. Most of these emails disguise themselves as official communications of the college or one of its many technology related departments. “Webmail Account Upgrade,” or “Account Deactivation” are common keywords. These emails, however, ask for personal information in an attempt to phish from you your email, login, password and even your Social Security Number. Remember that Evergreen will never ask for your username or password and you should never provide it to any webform or email. Ever. 

There are several Evergreen departments working to increase email and network security, however, we will never be able to prevent every malicious email or scam from finding its way into your inbox. The best security for the Evergreen network is an informed and cautious populous, who guard their information with great care.

Some tips on keeping your accounts both here at Evergreen and around the internet, secure:

• Never use the same password twice. For example, your Gmail password should not be the same as your my.evergreen.edu password.
• Always use a unique, hardened password with a mixture of letters, symbols and capital letters.
• Keep track of your difficult passwords using a password manager plugin for your browser, such as Lastpass.
• Do not respond to emails asking for private information.
• Call The Computer Center if you have any questions or concerns about your account: 360-867-6227 or help.evergreen.edu